Willie Brown and Rose Pak now speaking to the media and mad at it

Hundreds of City Hall officials and MC Hammer fans (we’d like to see the Venn diagram on that one) filled the Garden Court of the Palace Hotel on election night to celebrate Mayor Ed Lee’s almost-assured win. But first they had to get through the greeters on either side of the entryway: former Mayor Willie Brown and Chinatown power broker Rose Pak.

Both have been distancing themselves, in public at least, from Lee since an independent expenditure group supporting the interim mayor that they’re affiliated with drew an investigation by the district attorney for potential voter fraud. But with the election over, they could now be seen embracing Lee – and could tell the media just what they think of the articles that sparked the controversy.

“You newspaper people miss everything!” said Brown, himself a Chronicle columnist. “He’s the people’s choice. He always was the people’s choice.”

As for rumors that Lee’s people didn’t want Brown at their official party so he held his own? “This is a San Francisco political event, period. That’s all it is,” Brown said.

Across the entryway sat Pak, sipping cranberry juice. “The voters made it clear that they don’t respect people who just throw mud,” she said.

She said she talked with Lee several times during the final, heated weeks of the campaign and that he didn’t let the attacks bother him – but was sad that others had fallen under the media’s scrutiny. “He was sad that the Chinatown Community Development Center was brought into it, that Willie Brown was called a crook, that I was called a crook. I was discouraged. I didn’t know my middle name was power broker. Who did I broker for?”

Others kept it more lighthearted. MC Hammer, who showed up in his bright red Dodge sports car to DJ the party, said, “It’s always fun to participate in the process, right?” And Brown’s co-host, Silicon Valley investor Ron Conway, said Lee’s apparent victory was “awesome, well-deserved and well-earned.” He did seem a tad disappointed that Brown wasn’t handing out the prepared lyrics to Hammer’s song, “2 Legit 2 Quit,” to attendees as they entered.

Lee showed up toward the end of the party with his wife and daughters and took the stage to say he was humbled and exhausted. Brown, of course, also took the stage and called Lee “the most powerful Chinese (person) in the world outside of China.” But our favorite moment was when Lee gave a shout-out to the DJ, calling him “MC! MC!” in apparent belief that that’s his first name. As any loyal fan knows, if he goes by one name, it’s Hammer.